bacon



NETEE NATHAN HART AND ROBERT A. BACON, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

DECORATING CELLULOID.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 241,005, dated May 3,1881.

Application filed February 2, 1880.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, NATHAN HART and ROBERTA. BACON, said HART being a citizen of the United States and said BACONbeing a citizen of Canada, both residing at the city of New York, in thecounty of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Printing or Marking Upon Compounds of Pyroxyline,such as celluloid and analogous substances; and we do hereby declarethat the following is a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same.

Heretofore all attempts, so far as we know, to make permanentdecorations upon surfaces made of compounds ofpyroxyline, such ascelluloid and similar substances, have failed, the tints or colors beingeasily washed orrubbed off. Attempts have been made to overcome thisdifficulty by giving the article so colored a coating of varnish orcolorless celluloid; but this, although it overcame the difficulty tosome extent, did not entirely do so, as the varnish and color could bereadily scraped or worn off. Besides this, it added considerably to theexpense of manufacture. Celluloid had also been colored in the mass bythe addition of various pi gments, so as to make one uniform colorthroughout; or, by partially mixing the pigments and celluloid, a cloudyor mottled appearance had been produced, which, although durable, wasnot capable of being used to produce regular designs.

The object of our invention is to enable figures or designs or letters,in tints or colors, to be permanently printed or marked upon surfacescomposed wholly or in part of compounds of pyroxyline, such ascelluloid, Xyloidine,and similar substances. To accomplish this resultwe dissolve aniline colors in a liquid which is a solvent both of suchaniline colors and of compounds of pyroXyline, such as celluloid andsimilar substances, which solvent, when evaporated, will leave thecoloring-matter in intimate union or incorporated with such com poundswithout injury to its substance. The solvent which we claim in thepresent application is a mixture of alcohol and ether,substantially ashereinafter described, and with this equal parts of alcohol and cthersayforty minims of each. The coloring-pigment so formed can be then usedfor painting or marking the color .upon a surface made of a compound ofpyroxyline, such as celluloid andlike substances, by a brush or pencil;but if it is desired to print with such colors upon such surface we havefound it preferable to add and thoroughly mix with the solution abovedescribed, also, forty minims of carbolic acid, which will prevent thesolution from drying too rapidly upon the types or otherprinting-surface; and as such carbolic acid is also to some extent asolvent of the colors and the celluloid it will aid in the operation. Wethen allow the substance or surface marked as foresaid to dry, and whenthe moisture has evaporated marks will be found intimately andpermanently united with such substance or surface, and in that conditionthe decorations so applied cannot be washed off or rubbed off, and thesurface may be polished without injury to the colors.

e do not intend to limit ourselves closely to the proportions abovenamed, though the proportion of color to the said solvent may be variedwithin reasonable limits, as may be also the relative proportions of thealcohol and ether, and that of the carbolic acid when used, suchvariations affecting the intensity of the color or tint produced or therapidity of absorption of the color by the celluloid surface or therapidity of drying of the solution.

It is also evidei'itthatcolors which are analogous to aniline colors bybeing solublein combined alcohol and ether maybe substituted for anilinecolors.

Having fully described our invention, that which we desire to claim andsecure by Letters Patent is 1. The process of decorating surfacescomposed wholly or in part of compounds of pyroxyline, such ascelluloid, Xyloidine,and simisimilar substances, by the application ofaniline or equivalent colors, dissolved in alcohol, ether, and carbolicacid, and applied substan- 15 tially as described.

WVitncss our hands this 29th day of January, 1880.

NATHAN HART. ROBERT A. BACON.

Witnesses:

ARTHUR S. HENDRICKS, MICHAEL H. UARDOZO.

